The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector, also known as Team Telecom, notified the FCC this week that it's reviewing Bell Canada's proposed acquisition of Ziply Fiber (see 2412090045). The deal is straightforward, and “there is no significant risk to the transaction being approved,” New Street's Blair Levin said Thursday. But, he added, approval may get caught up in President Donald Trump’s pursuit of tariffs.
The full FCC should reverse the Media Bureau’s dismissal of the Media and Democracy Project’s (MAD) petition against Fox’s WTXF Philadelphia, MAD said in an application for review Tuesday. The petition's dismissal under former FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2501160081) was “politically manipulated” and intended to add “a patina of impartiality” to the contemporaneous dismissal of complaints against ABC, NBC and CBS, MAD said. Those complaints, from the Center for American Rights (CAR), weren’t based on court findings and “did not rise to the level” of the WTXF petition, MAD said. “In rescinding the three CAR decisions, while leaving the MAD decision to stand, [FCC Chairman Brendan] Carr doubled down on Rosenworcel’s biased, politically motivated adjudications,” the group said (see 2501220059). “It is not the duty of the FCC chair, whether a Republican or a Democrat, to play politics with legal proceedings,” and both parties' chairs "failed [in] their statutory duty.” The Media Bureau was incorrect not to consider the factual record and court findings from the litigation against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems over Fox’s 2020 election coverage, MAD said. It also disputed that its case against WTXF violates the First Amendment. “The question before the Commission is not whether Fox had a right to dissemble, rather it is about the consequences of those lies and the impact on Fox’s character qualifications to remain a Commission licensee.”
An emergency petition Sunday by the executive branch seeking U.S. Supreme Court intervention to block courts from interfering with the removal of the head of the Office of Special Counsel could have implications for the president’s removal power over FCC commissioners, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May in a blog post Tuesday. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked SCOTUS to vacate a temporary restraining order barring the removal of Office of Special Counsel leader Hampton Dellinger as “an unprecedented assault on the separation of powers.” Blocking the president from removing presidential appointees under his authority “inflicts the gravest of injuries on the Executive Branch and the separation of powers,” said the emergency petition. In it, Harris restated DOJ's argument (see 2502140047) that tenure protections for members of multimember commissions are unconstitutional. “If this view ultimately prevails in the Supreme Court, a president's authority to remove an FCC commissioner without providing any reason would be assured,” May said. The court could instead rule that Dellinger could be ousted based on language in the statute that allows the head of the Office of Special Counsel to be removed for inefficiency, malfeasance or neglect of duty, he added. Other agencies targeted in a recent letter to Congress from the Solicitor General -- such as the FTC and the National Labor Relations Board -- are based on statutes with similar language, but that language isn’t present in the Communications Act. That could be “determinative” if a president ever tries to remove an FCC commissioner, May said. He included a disclaimer at the end of his post clarifying that he isn't advocating for White House removal of FCC commissioners.
While the White House increasingly wields tariffs as an economic policy tool, parts of the tech, media and telecom universe see a growing risk of getting enmeshed in trade fights. Some communications technology could be particularly exposed, Telecommunications Industry Association Director-Global Policy Patrick Lozada told us. Broadcasters, meanwhile, are bracing for tariffs that could potentially result in lower advertising spends. SpaceX's temporary loss of a $100 million contract over a U.S./Canada tariff fight also could point to satellite communications getting caught in the thicket of U.S. trade disputes (see 2502060004).
The Competitive Carriers Association challenged parts of the FCC’s 5G Fund order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, seeking changes to the rules the agency adopted under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2408290041). Current Chairman Brendan Carr voted against the order, arguing that the fund should be launched only after the BEAD program plays out and money is awarded. CCA and the Rural Wireless Association voiced concerns when the order was approved in August.
SpaceX's temporary loss of a $100 million contract with Ontario over a U.S./Canada tariff fight could be a harbinger of satellite communications services increasingly enmeshed in U.S. trade disputes. Some see non-U.S. satellite operators potentially benefiting from the Starlink contract episode.
The loss of funding under the Chips and Science Act of 2022 could mean companies will retreat from investments they’re making in the U.S., experts said Thursday during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar. Advanced chips are critical to smartphones and many other devices made and sold in the U.S., they noted. Few smartphones are made in the U.S., but chips are integral to other wireless gear manufactured here. Experts also said investment in chip research helps drive innovation in the communications sector.
CTA CEO Gary Shapiro warned Wednesday of a potential “brain drain” in the federal government should the Donald Trump administration continue its assault on the bureaucracy. The Joe Biden administration lacked enough officials who understood how business works, and Trump's don’t understand government, Shapiro said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar. Unions that represent federal employees, including at the FCC, slammed the latest Trump actions.
The FCC missed an opportunity by ignoring broader market competition in its most recent biannual Communications Marketplace Report, wrote Seth Cooper, Free State Foundation director-policy studies, on Friday. The report was approved 3-2, over dissents by now-Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington. As he has in the past, Carr objected to the focus on market segments rather than on the converged market (see 2501020033). “The Commission failed to fulfill its statutory duty to consider the effect of competition between services that use different broadband delivery technologies,” and “the 2024 report made zero advancements in analyzing cross-platform competitive effects,” Cooper wrote. “Under new leadership, the FCC should abandon viewing alternative broadband delivery technologies as entirely separate and recognize there is a broader broadband market characterized by competition among fixed and mobile broadband services.”
U.S. Supreme Court justices peppered both sides with questions on Tuesday as the court heard McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case with broad implications for the FCC and other agencies. Lawyers representing TCPA defendants fear that a decision overruling the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could mean any district court might decide whether a regulatory action is valid, leading to a bonanza for TCPA plaintiffs, who could seek alternative interpretations in different courts (see 2410170015).